Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The 4th Anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" - Vol. 3 Issue 54
William F. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement, recently wrote a column that all Republicans and Bush supporters should read. In his column (quoted below), Buckley worries about the possible demise of the Republican Party. Here is a sample:
"The political problem of the Bush administration is grave, possibly beyond the point of rescue. The opinion polls are savagely decisive on the Iraq question. About 60 percent of Americans wish the war ended—wish at least a timetable for orderly withdrawal.
What is going on in Congress is in the nature of accompaniment. The vote in Congress is simply another salient in the war against war in Iraq. Republican forces, with a couple of exceptions, held fast against the Democrats’ attempt to force Bush out of Iraq even if it required fiddling with the Constitution. President Bush will of course veto the bill, but its impact is critically important in the consolidation of public opinion ...
General Petraeus is a wonderfully commanding figure. But if the enemy is in the nature of a disease, he cannot win against it. Students of politics ask then the derivative question: How can the Republican party, headed by a president determined on a war he can’t see an end to, attract the support of a majority of the voters? General Petraeus, in his Pentagon briefing on April 26, reported persuasively that there has been progress, but cautioned, “I want to be very clear that there is vastly more work to be done across the board and in many areas, and again I note that we are really just getting started with the new effort.”
The general makes it a point to steer away from the political implications of the struggle, but this cannot be done in the wider arena. There are grounds for wondering whether the Republican Party will survive this dilemma.
See, EditorandPublisher.com.
When a man with the accomplishments and intellectual reputation of Bill Buckley tells the world that he believes the very existence of the Republican Party is threatened by President Bush’s adventure in Iraq, THAT is a wake-up call. Mind you, I would hate to see the complete destruction of the Republican Party. It is critically important to our democracy to have an honorable “loyal opposition.” There is a scenario where a new sectarian “Christian Party” emerges to replace the current Republican Party. We shall see. Meanwhile, the President is so out-of-touch that he vetoed the Iraq spending bill on the 4th anniversary of his infamous top gun landing in full flight gear.
Ironically, it may have been fair to say, “Mission accomplished” four years ago. After all, our troops had conquered Baghdad, caught Saddam and allowed the Iraqis to have an election of sorts. The high point really was 4 years ago. Just as every other aspect of “Bushworld” has been revealed to be manipulated, phony and staged, it is now clear that the “Mission Accomplished” incident symbolizes the path of the Bush presidency, from farce to tragedy and back again. And the endless fraternity party in George Bush’s head goes on and on and on ...
In wonderment, I remain
Savant
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